PD POST

Trish is cool.

Finito!

fin·ished

adjective /ˈfiniSHt/  (of an action, activity, or piece of work) Having been completed or ended - a preparatory drawing for the finished painting (of a person) Having completed or ended an action or activity - they'll be finished here in an hour Having lost effectiveness, power, or prestige - he was told he was finished at the club (of an object or room) Having been given a particular decorative surface as the final stage in its manufacture or decoration - plastic-finished lining paper (of livestock) Having completed fattening before slaughter - a reduction in prices for finished cattle

Activity #22: Audiobooks and #23: Downloadable Media

I am only just starting to get into audiobooks.  As I have previously posted, I am not much of a reader, but when I found this tool I thought it was a great way for me to read without having to read (if that makes sense).  Although, I still haven't managed to get through one complete book so I guess that will be my job on the holidays?  It's funny because the first time I heard about eBooks I was on a plane.  The lady sitting next to me was practically selling me her eReader saying how convenient it was and that I should really get one because she wasn't much of a reader either, but then she started using her eReader and never looked back...sounds cliche but that pretty much how it went down.  She did a great job of selling the product actually and I was really surprised to find out that she was actually an accountant, the whole time I thought this was a new clever way of marketing!  Anyway, since then I have downloaded some eBooks, but still found that I wasn't reading them, so now I am trying audiobooks.  Let's see how that goes!

Activity #21: Youtube and Teachertube

I used the clip above this year in my Year 9 Mathematics class to show them not to let failure get in the way of achieving your dreams.  Students were able to identify with at least one famous person and see that despite their setbacks and 'failures' they still managed to get up, dust themselves off and achieve greatness.

I love using videos from Youtube and Teachertube to engage the students in the content, particularly in the anticipatory set of a lesson.  Students become really engaged in the medium with which the information is presented and may even remember more from the video than from what you have taught.  This is why I pay particular attention to selecting videos that are very relevant, otherwise I have found that the video is actually more of a distraction and a bit of light 'entertainment' rather than being educational.

Activity #20: Podcasts

The great thing about podcasts is that they give anyone a voice, much like blogging, except now people can hear your voice too.  There are definitely applications for their use in the classroom and I know that many of my colleagues are using podcasts, but I just need to find the right opportunity to utilise them in the classroom.

Activity #19: Rollyo

I can see Rollyo being a great tool in the classroom, particularly for research tasks.  So often students will choose websites that have inaccurate or irrelevant information on them and I am thinking Rollyo would be a great tool to utilise during an assignment.  However, I am conscious of the fact that if I select the websites for the students than I there will be a couple of roll on effects of this including:

1. Students may not begin/continue to develop the skill of critical analysis (i.e. reading through the information and analysing it's appropriateness) when researching.
2. Students may not understand how to determine the validity of a website or how to check the reliability of the source.
3. That as the teacher, I may narrow the point of view which the students could 'bring to the table' in any particular assignment or research task.  Allowing them to select their own websites often broadens the areas of discussion and can put a new spin on a topic.

It is because of these reasons that I will carefully consider Rollyo's use in my classroom before incorporating it.

Activity #18: Wikis

Wikis are a great resource to have in the classroom.  I have been using Wikis in my classes for the past year and have found it a really engaging tool for students to use.  The only problem has been the work that has gone into setting up the Wikis and monitoring them.  I am currently looking at ways to solve these problems before I get my Year 12's using Wikis for their course this year...